Bharathiar University Vice Chancellor A Ganapathy was today arrested for allegedly accepting Rs 30 lakh as bribe from an aspirant for the post of an assistant professor, the police said.

Ganapathy allegedly demanded Rs 35 lakh for the post and finally agreed to take Rs 30 lakh from complainant Suresh, they said.

Acting on the complaint, officials of the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC) laid a trap and gave the man chemically treated notes, to be handed over to the vice chancellor, the police said.

Ganapathy was arrested by the DVAC oficials at his residence after he accepted Rs one lakh in cash and Rs 29 lakh by cheques from Suresh, they said.

In another development, Ganapathy's wife, Swarnalatha, was taken into custody after she was allegedly found tearing some currency notes and throwing it into the drainage, they said.

A case will be registered against her for attempting to destroy evidence in the case, they said.

Meanwhile, a case was registered against Dharmaraj, a Chemistry professor in the University, for allegedly "brokering" the deal, police sources said.

The officials are questioning both Ganapathy and Dharmaraj and searches are on in their residences.

A large number of police and revenue personnel were deployed during the operation, they added.

The varsity was established by the Tamil Nadu government in February 1982.